Immigration Minister Jason Kenney launched a rant against the judiciary last week in which he blamed the country’s judges for delaying the removal of failed asylum seekers. Anyone reading the newspaper articles that were written after the speech would have seen numerous legal and refugee experts criticize the minister’s remarks, particularly his apparent failure to understand how Canada’s legal system works. Well, anyone who didn’t read the edited version of *The Globe and Mail*report that was posted on the minister’s own website. Mr. Kenney’s site “reprinted” the *Globe* story by Joe Friesen with the same headline that appeared on the paper’s site, “Minister scolds judges over delays, inconsistency in refugee cases.” It also displayed all of the minister’s comments. But it left out several paragraphs that quote critics of Mr. Kenney’s speech.
New figures indicate the federal government hopes to reduce overall immigration next year by five per cent, mainly by cutting back on family reunification visas. Figures from Citizenship and Immigration Canada show the government will issue about 11,000 visas this year to parents and grandparents of Canadian residents, down from more than 16,000 last year.Figures from Citizenship and Immigration Canada show the government will issue about 11,000 visas this year to parents and grandparents of Canadian residents, down from more than 16,000 last year. (Tom Hanson/Canadian Press)Among the hardest hit by the lower immigration targets will be parents and grandparents seeking to join their children in Canada, according to numbers obtained from the Citizenship and Immigration Department through the Access to Information Act.
OTTAWA — The government has banked tens of millions of dollars in immigrant application fees while taking little action to process the applications — a problem that will only be worsened when government reduces the overall number of visas issued in 2011 from 2010 levels, recently released government documents show.
A June 19, 2010 panel with community activists from No One Is Illegal Toronto (Farrah Miranda), Vancouver (Harsha Walia), and Montreal (Jaggi Singh), as well our allies Melissa Elliott (Young Onkwehonwe United, Six Nations) and Adil Charkaoui (held on a Security Certificate). This panel focuses on the realities of Canadian immigration and border patrols in relation to broader global dynamics of corporate free trade, militarization and occupation, and the global rise of racist sentiments against Indigenous and immigrant communities.
It remains to be seen if Bill C-49, the newest anti-migrant bill introduced by the Harper government will become law. Even after public condemnation by nearly a 100 healthcare and religious organizations, concerned community, refugee rights, legal advocacy and environmental groups, as well as thousands of individuals signing petitions and writing letters, the Conservative government continues to push forward this racist legislation.
